Summary
Highlights
This video marks the start of Level 2 Robotics, where participants will learn to write code for controlling robots. The curriculum will cover the importance of programming, definitions of language, program, and code, and the basics of electronics and microcontrollers.
In Level 1, robots were controlled using internal functions, digital joysticks, and IR sensors for obstacle avoidance. These basic control units are limited. For robots with multiple sensors and decision-making capabilities, a single, versatile controlling unit is needed, achievable only by changing the internal structure through coding with microcontroller boards.
By programming microcontroller boards, a robot's functionality can be changed without altering physical components. This makes robots cost-effective and easy to use, as new code essentially creates a new unit.
Language is the means of communication with computers or robots (e.g., C++, Java, Python); C++ will be used in this level. Programming involves creating a set of instructions and logic for a computer or microcontroller to perform tasks. Coding is the part of programming that translates human language into a form a computer or robot can understand.
The journey of controlling devices evolved from simple switches to transistors in the mid-1900s, which could control power with signals. Transistors led to integrated circuits (ICs), such as the l293d IC for motor control. The limitation of ICs requiring new hardware for every new function led to microprocessors, which could be programmed, and eventually to microcontrollers, which offer processing, memory storage, and interaction with other devices, making them versatile for various robotic applications.